Saving gas in a smaller batch

[DeaganB]

I want to do 3 gallon batches. But I own 5 gallon corny kegs. To save gas I am thinking of inserting a Pvc pipe that is capped on both ends to take up 2 gallons worth of volume. Has anybody tried this? I am not sure if the Pvc would add extra flavour or not.

 

[Greenbasterd]

pvc and alcohol don't get along. i wouldn't ruin by beer with leeched plastic chemicals to save a couple cents on CO2

 

[day_trippr]

The beer uses the same CO2 per gallon as a full keg, and the keg will end up filled with CO2 when it kicks no matter how full of beer it was to begin with. So the "wasted" gas comes down to the 2 gallons needed to fill the head space. That's ~.25 cubic feet or something like 1/160th of a 5 pound fill...

Cheers!

 

[beersk]

The beer uses the same CO2 per gallon as a full keg, and the keg will end up filled with CO2 when it kicks no matter how full of beer it was to begin with. So the "wasted" gas comes down to the 2 gallons needed to fill the head space. That's ~.25 cubic feet or something like 1/160th of a 5 pound fill...

Cheers!

I know this is always debated when it comes up... but if you're purging with 30PSI to seal the lid, obviously 2 gallons of headspace is going to use more co2 than a quart of headspace if a keg is filled to just below the gas in tube. But I'd say it's fairly negligible.

 

[DeaganB]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[b-boy]

It's a very interesting idea. I never would have thought of that.

You'd probably be saving $.05 per keg. I wouldn't worry about it. You can always trade some 5-gallon kegs for 3-gallon kegs.